Friday, September 28, 2018

Tyler Eschendal is a composer and percussionist originally from the suburbs of Detroit and now resides in Los Angeles, CA. A love for rhythm, pulse, and layering heavily influences his music, as well as an interest in introducing sample-based procedures found in electronic music to acoustic and live instrumentations. Tyler’s music has been performed at institutions across the U.S. and by such ensembles as the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, yMusic, the Norfolk New Music Ensemble, and Sō Percussion. He holds a B.M. in music composition from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati studying with Michael Fiday, and a M.M. in composition from the University of Southern California studying with Ted Hearne, Sean Friar and Don Crockett.Tyler's orchestral piece Zarathustra Mixtape was selected for the Grand Rapids Symphony EarShot New Music Readings, where it will be workshopped and read under the direction of conductor Jacomo Bairos. Public performances will take place on Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 29, 2018 at The Morton as part of ArtPrize. More information hereTyler spoke with us about his piece and the upcoming readings.

Composer Tyler Eschendal

American Composers Orchestra: What was your reaction to finding out your piece had been selected for the Grand Rapids Symphony EarShot New Music Readings?

Tyler Eschendal: My reaction came as a great surprise! The original instrumentation is for a much larger orchestra than the readings presented, but I was up for the challenge of rescaling the work.

ACO: You describe your piece as a "mixtape" of Richard Strauss’Also Sprach Zarathustra, "splicing, stretching, shifting, layering, reorganizing, and most importantly, re-contextualizing" the composer's 1896 tone poem. Can you talk about your first encounters with Also Sprach Zarathustra, and why you chose it for the basis of your own orchestral work?

TE: Like a lot of composers, some of my first introductions to classical music was through the orchestra and its immense power. Also Sprach was a piece that immediately resonated with me and I became obsessed. The more I listened, the curiouser I got. Zarathustra Mixtape gave me an opportunity to extend and exploit fragments of the piece that I had always wanted to see in a different context.

ACO: What are you doing to prepare for the readings? Are there any changes you have made to your piece?

TE: Strauss’ original orchestration calls for a massive orchestra with quadruple winds and brass, two harps and lots of string divisions. In order to replicate the source I wanted to use as large of an orchestra as I could get my hands on. For the ACO readings I was working an ensemble half that size, so the biggest challenge was downsizing the instrumentation and reorchestrating moments of the piece.

ACO: What do you hope to gain from this experience?

TE: I hope to gain more experience working in time-sensitive situations like rehearsals and meetings with a professional arts organization like GRS and ACO. Understanding how to make the most out of a short rehearsal block is an absolute skill!

Grand Rapids Symphony will give public performances of Tyler Eschendal's Zarathustra Mixtape on Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 29, 2018 at The Morton, as part of ArtPrize. More information here

Emmanuel Berrido is a Dominican-American composer with a passion for telling stories with his music. In May 2017, he was awarded the Louis Smadbeck Composition Prize in Ithaca, NY, for Bend the Knee for brass quintet, and in February 2018 he was awarded the Ithaca College Orchestral Composition Prize for Danza Ritual.Emmanuel has studied music composition with Orlando Jacinto García, Evis Sammoutis, and Jorge Villavicencio Grossmann. Other mentors include composers Bernard Rands, Augusta Read Thomas, and Chinary Ung; violinist Peter Sheppard Skaerved; and clarinetist Lori Freedman.Emmanuel's orchestral piece Danza Ritual was selected for the Grand Rapids Symphony EarShot New Music Readings, where it will be workshopped and read under the direction of conductor Jacomo Bairos. Public performances will take place on Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 29, 2018 at The Morton as part of ArtPrize. More information hereEmmanuel spoke with us about his piece and the upcoming readings.

Composer Emmanuel Berrido

American Composers Orchestra: What was your reaction to finding out your piece had been selected for the Grand Rapids Symphony EarShot New Music Readings?

Emmanuel Berrido: I was at once very honored and humbled. I remember my mentor at undergraduate mentioning American Composers Orchestra on my very first day of Composition Seminar, so when Vanessa Rose called to let me know I had been invited my heart jumped – I was going to come and work with these prestigious institutions (ACO and the Grand Rapids Symphony), thus adding my name to a conglomerate of very talented composers whose careers had been enriched by their collaboration with ACO. Also, given the large pool of applicants that send their music for consideration, one could not help but feel very blessed about being invited to participate in EarShot.

ACO: In the program note, you write that you composed Danza Ritual as a way to explore "elements that make the musical culture of the Dominican Republic beautiful." Can you talk a little bit about these elements, and how they are presented in your piece?

EB: It's funny to discuss the program note, because when I was on my way to Michigan I thought about the story of this piece in retrospect, and remembered other details about it which are connected to Dominican culture and myself as well. So I guess I'll dodge the question a bit, but not really, and give you more of the story.

At the time I wrote Danza Ritual (which at the time had another name) I was about to go to a festival where the centerpiece of the orchestral gala was going to be Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, which is also about both a ritual and dance. It was a cool exercise for me to think how these two concepts could also come into existence within my music, and I also wanted to bring about something that felt like it was Dominican, and therefore closer to the things that make me, me.

And so during the soul-searching process I went through before composing Danza Ritual I decided on two narrative elements, which –hopefully– will guide the experience of this piece a bit:

The beginning and ending sections of this overture reflect my need to get my heart close to the Dominican culture, and the music heard on these sections is inspired by Afro-Caribbean religious manifestations from the Dominican Republic, where dance and mysticism are also patent. These manifestations, like the "música de Palos," are very rhythmic, and oftentimes loud with distinct melodic lines often sung or played in homophony — they also make use of various types of drums and the metal güira. So the elements that I talk about on the program note are the driving rhythms, dance-like spirit, loudness, and use of very particular percussion instruments (the güira IS that one element that makes it more Dominican!). The middle section, which is the larger chunk of the piece, is inspired by the Biblical story of Abraham and Isaac, namely the sacrifice of Isaac, which is one of the earlier histories about “sacrifice” that I ever heard.

So, throughout the narrative of this piece I aim to depict these two ideas (dance and sacrifice) from different perspectives, and the spirit of the sections of the work are to show for this.

ACO: What are you doing to prepare for the readings? Are there any changes you have made to your piece?

EB: Providentially, this orchestration was read and performed at Ithaca College last February under the baton of my colleague and dear friend Keehun Nam. When I submitted the work for consideration by ACO I was prepared to make changes, but it happened that the orchestration provided by the Grand Rapids Symphony was the same that I'd written this piece for originally. In a more nuts-and-bolts plane though, I did have to put some time in and review aspects of notation to make sure the music was well presented for the orchestra. To me, notation is communication through and through, so a well-presented part not only shows that I care for my music, but also that I deeply respect the musicians who will play it.

ACO: What do you hope to gain from this experience?

EB: During the morning of the first day we were talking about being a composer and our relationship with performers, and I shared how I strongly believe that "fellowship with others is good for the soul." So this is what I believe about something like EarShot and similar programs – we come here to work hard, but I also hope (at least this is a hope I come with) to go back home with at least one new friend. Like I mentioned at the beginning, it is already an honor to be around this talented group of people and this honor is already enough reward, but if I could even ask for more, then I would probably hope to come back to my apartment in Ithaca with at least one new person in my contacts list whom I can talk to about music and life; it is in this form of genuine relationships with others where careers grow and advance, music matures, and perspectives get broadened.

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Jiyoung Ko is a Michigan-based composer of orchestral, chamber, and vocal music. Her works have been performed around the world by ensembles including Ensemble Dal Niente, Del Sol String Quartet, New York New Music Ensemble, NEC Honors Ensemble, and KNUA Chamber Ensemble. Jiyoung was selected for the 2018 Civic Orchestra of Chicago New Music Workshop with coaching by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) at Chicago’s Symphony Center. In 2017, her orchestral work, Spring Overture, was mentioned as an alternate for the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute. Jiyoung received her Master’s degree from The New England Conservatory and her Bachelor’s degree from Korea National University of Arts where she studied with Michael Gandolfi, Kati Agócs, and Geonyoug Lee.Jiyoung's orchestral piece Remembrances was selected for the Grand Rapids Symphony EarShot New Music Readings, where it will be workshopped and read under the direction of conductor Jacomo Bairos. Public performances will take place on Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 29, 2018 at The Morton as part of ArtPrize. More information hereJiyoung spoke with us about her piece and the upcoming readings.

Composer Jiyoung Ko. Photo by Hyewon Park

American Composers Orchestra: What was your reaction to finding out your piece had been selected for the Grand Rapids Symphony EarShot New Music Readings?

Jiyoung Ko: I was pleasantly surprised. It is a great honor to be selected. This piece was a departure from my usual composition style. I wanted my repertoire to be more robust and this piece gave me an opportunity to branch out of my comfort zone.

ACO: In the program note, you write that your piece is about the emotions you feel when "a new experience unexpectedly seizes me," when a memory is created. Why did you chose to write a piece about this? Did the music come first and then the idea, or the other way round?

JK: The idea definitely came first. I wanted to capture notable moments in my life and transfer them into music. I think this is a way to give them permanence. Although this piece is about the emotions I feel and try to retain, it is my hope that the music will evoke memories of special moments in the listeners' lives as well.

ACO: What are you doing to prepare for the readings? Are there any changes you have made to your piece?

JK: To prepare for the readings I had to fine tune and balance several passages. The original instrumentation of my orchestra piece is broader than the Grand Rapids Symphony's instrumentation, so I first compressed it for the GRS, then considered voicing and carefully amped up important melodies that I wanted to emphasize more strongly in performance. I have also adjusted my score and parts based on suggestions from ACO's engraving specialist.

ACO: What do you hope to gain from this experience?

JK: I hope to learn more about orchestration and the orchestra rehearsal process. For example, effective communication with the conductor and the orchestra, precise notation, rehearsal technique, and balance. All these will have an impact on my writing of orchestra pieces or large ensembles in the future. Also, I will be inspired by the feedback from the mentor composers, the conductor, the musicians, and my fellow colleagues.

Grand Rapids Symphony will give public performances of Jiyoung Ko's Remembrances on Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 29, 2018 at The Morton, as part of ArtPrize. More information hereLearn more about Jiyoung Ko at www.jiyoungkomusic.com

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

As part of a collaborative working session, six women composers – all of whom have been commissioned previously through ACO’s programs – will have their works read and recorded by The Philadelphia Orchestra in a rehearsal led by Assistant Conductor Kensho Watanabe. Composers will engage with the Orchestra’s leadership and Artistic Committee, and will receive feedback from co-facilitators, ACO Artistic Director Derek Bermel and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, and native Philadelphian Melinda Wagner.This score-reading session will take place on Thursday, September 6, 2018 from 10:30am to 4pm at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The event is free and open to the public, no RSVP is necessary. Seatings will happen approximately every 30-40 minutes between pieces. View the full schedule here.We spoke to the six participating composers – Xi Wang, Hilary Purrington, Nina C. Young, Melody Eötvös, Chen-Hui Jen, and Robin Holcomb – about their works and what they look forward to at the readings.

Composer Xi Wang

XI WANG - Above Light, a conversation with Toru Takemitsu

American Composers Orchestra: Can you tell us a little bit about the piece you are bringing to the Philadelphia Orchestra for these readings?

Xi Wang: The elegance and colorfulness of Takemitsu’s imaginary soundscapes drew my deep love and admiration. The style of my compositions is quite different from Takemitsu’s. However, I believe the beauty of music is its diversity and the coexistence of difference. I see struggles in my life, so do my music. And I love both of them!

There are two fundamental components in Above Light. The first material—a delicate melodic phrase played by piano, flute and harp, opens this piece. It reminisces and is a tribute to Takemitsu’s music. It is soon interrupted by the second material—heavy strokes from percussions and a dark, low, sustained note played by bass instruments. These two contrastive materials are juxtaposed several times, and are developed in length and density each time. Later there comes an attempt to combine all the materials vertically. The first material—a lyrical melodic contour is now played by piccolo and violins at the high register, producing a mist to shroud the rest of the orchestra. The other materials sweep in gradually, but violently conflict with the first. The orchestra reaches its saturation and is taken over by the massive sound from percussions. After reaching the forceful drum climax, the music collapses onto one long note played by violins at the extremely high register. It leads to a short recapitulation of the first material, with an aloof reminiscence of Takemitsu’s music.

ACO: Your relationship with ACO began with your Symphony No. 1 at the 2010 Underwood Readings. Can you talk about anything that you learned or gained from that experience that you used when writing this new piece, or that you plan to use during the rehearsals with the Philadelphia Orchestra?

XW: I learnt a great deal when work with ACO in 2010. For example, precise notation, effective communication with the orchestra, rehearsal technique, and fine orchestration, etc. All these have impact on my writing from then on especially on my compositions for large ensembles.

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Composer Hilary Purrington

HILARY PURRINGTON - Likely Pictures in Haphazard Sky

American Composers Orchestra: Your relationship with ACO began with your participation in the 2017 Underwood Readings with your piece Likely Pictures in Haphazard Sky, for which you won the 2017 Underwood Commission. The Philadelphia Orchestra will also be reading Likely Pictures in Haphazard Sky. Is there anything you have changed about the piece since Underwood last year? Is there anything in particular that you are planning to focus on during the Philadelphia readings?

Hilary Purrington: I changed several very minor things during and after the Underwood readings last year. Overall, I feel that Likely Pictures is in excellent shape, and I'm very excited to hear it again! When I wrote this work, I never imagined that four different orchestras would eventually read and/or perform it. Regarding the Philadelphia Orchestra readings, I look forward to meeting and forming connections with the musicians and administrators. It's nearly impossible to predict what one will learn from these kinds of experiences, but I anticipate leaving with knowledge and ideas that I'll certainly apply to future works.

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Composer Nina C. Young

NINA C. YOUNG - Excerpts from Agnosco Veteris, for orchestra

American Composers Orchestra: Can you tell us a little bit about the piece you are bringing to the Philadelphia Orchestra for these readings?

Nina C. Young: I am bringing an excerpt of my orchestral piece Agnosco Veteris. This orchestra work is a partner piece to, and a reworked memory of my 2014 sinfonietta piece Vestigia Flammae. In book IV of Virgil’s Aeneid, Dido, long in grief over her late husband Sychaeus’s death, is suddenly awakened from emotional slumber by the visiting Trojan hero Aeneas. In an upheaval of emotion, she proclaims, “Agnosco veteris vestigia flammae,” or “I recognize the traces of an ancient fire”. For Dido, experiential time becomes a complex and powerful mix of emotions past and present. The quote resurfaces in Dante’s Divine Comedy. The overarching allegory of this epic poem traces themes of Dante’s spiritual quest through symbolism. Dante, guided by Virgil, achieves literary immortality through the act of storytelling that appropriates and amalgamates references to antiquity, classical literature, mythology, Christianity, and (then) contemporary Italian politics. In Purgatorio 30, Dante feels the presence of Beatrice and matches his emotional upheaval to that of Dido. Dante makes a final tribute to Virgil by stating, “conosco i segni de l’antica fiamma” – an Italian translation of the Latin “Agnosco veteris vestigia flammae.”

This passage is the poetic impetus for my two partnered pieces. While neither work is explicitly programmatic in connection with Virgil or Dante’s literary narrative, the music invites private, distinctive, and profound interpretations in each listener’s experience as she addresses the central concepts of lost memories, vestigial emotions, and melancholy for the passage of time (common themes in my music).

Dante appropriates explicit cultural references and symbols as a tool to weave the narrative of the Divine Comedy. However, when I was collecting the source material for Vestigia Flammae, I abandoned explicit quotation. Rather, I tried my hand at writing imagined faux folk, modal, and fanfare-like source-music that could be mistaken for something pre-existing. There is one direct quote, though, an exchange between the clarinets at the beginning of the excerpt which is a time-stretched version of the opening riff from Radiohead's Bloom.

While episodic in construction, Agnosco Veteris is divided into three large sections. Part 1, the “Music of Before” presents the thematic source material, or sonic memories. Part 2, the “Music of Ritual” is a static reflective checkpoint during which the listener can consider the musical recollections that came before. Part 3, the “Music of After” is characterized by energetic renewal and presents a reconfigured collage of the musical material.

ACO: Your relationship with ACO began with your piece Remnants at the 2013 Underwood Readings, and continued with your ACO/Jerome Foundation commission Out of whose womb came the ice, which was premiered in 2017 at Symphony Space. Can you talk about anything that you learned or gained from these experiences that you used when writing this new piece, or that you plan to use during the rehearsals with the Philadelphia Orchestra?

NCY: The giant orchestral machine is a beautiful, tricky beast. As a composer, it's sonic heaven to work with so many instrumental colors on the same stage, but the reality is that there is never enough rehearsal time and the nature of orchestra rehearsal and detail is very different than when working with a chamber ensemble. The only way to learn these nuances is through real-life experience: mistakes, happy accidents, and the occasional good idea! I'm really thankful to have had so much time to work with the ACO, and a few other groups - it's not easy to get music in front of an orchestra. These experiences have been extremely educational, and with each orchestral reading and performance I get to strengthen my understanding of the translation between the score and the performed sound.

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Composer Melody Eötvös

MELODY EÖTVÖS - The Saqqara Bird, for Symphony Orchestra

American Composers Orchestra: Can you tell us a little bit about the piece you are bringing to the Philadelphia Orchestra for these readings?

Melody Eötvös: This piece is called The Saqqara Bird and it was commissioned by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in 2016, and premiered that year in August. The work is about a small artifact discovered in Saqqara, Egypt. There is a great deal of speculation about the purpose and design of the object (see picture attached) from claims that it is merely a children’s toy, to it being the first experiments with aviation. The uncertainty behind the function of the bird immediately appealed to me as it embodies an openness of interpretation that works brilliantly with composing. In the music you can identify various motives and modal colors that clearly speak ‘Egyptian-bird-thing’.

ACO: Your relationship with ACO began with Beetles, Dragons & Dreamers at the 2014 Underwood Readings, and continued with your ACO/Toulmin commission Red Dirt | Silver Rain at Carnegie Hall in 2015. Can you talk about anything that you learned or gained from these experiences that you used when writing this new piece, or that you plan to use during the rehearsals with the Philadelphia Orchestra?

ME: When comparing The Saqqara Bird to my previous two works BDD and RD|SR, it’s a little difficult as they’re all very different pieces. Each had significant challenges for me: BDD was my doctoral dissertation and the longest orchestral work I had completed to date; RD|SR was more of a chamber orchestra situation and I potentially realized this too late in the composition process (and was also my first piece with that reduced, yet still quite large instrumentation); and Saqqara had no harp or piano, and only 1 percussionist so my idealistic ‘resonant’ combinations were very limited for the first time. Workshopping the first two works with the ACO though was invaluable in that it was an intense and devoted time to simply work out the music. There is no time to make revisions there, so any issues of balance needed to be addressed there and then, and the ACO was fantastic at doing this, as well as being patient and understanding of young composers. And of course my experience with these two pieces informed not only the composition process (conceptually), but also how I wrote the piece in terms of how much rehearsal time I knew I’d have, and what the audience would be like. It was the first time I let those factors creep in to my music and instead of regretting it and thinking I’d let myself be influenced by artificial, anti-artistic means, I had made a very good, mature choice to consider my audience and rehearsal time, finally. And this lead to a much larger and important commission with the TSO again in 2018. Now, using this knowledge for the ACO rehearsal coming up in Philly? I’m already armed with the edits that came up from the premiere with the TSO in 2016, so I feel very well prepared. Though, keeping an open mind and readiness for a different orchestra, as well as letting them make their own interpretation of the piece is important as well.

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Composer Chen-Hui Jen

CHEN-HUI JEN - in eternal dusk, for orchestra

American Composers Orchestra: Can you tell us a little bit about the piece you are bringing to the Philadelphia Orchestra for these readings?

Chen-Hui Jen: The work I am bringing is a recent work finished last year, called in eternal dusk. It was a granted commission and received its premiere in this past January in Indianapolis. in eternal dusk is my third orchestral work, whose original instrumentation allows a smaller string section in comparison to my other works, which require a large string section for many divisions. I am excited to hear it brought to live again with possibly different interpretation.

in eternal dusk carries a poetic idea of time, memories, and longing. I was inspired by the daily light outside my window, where faces the airport and the twilight. During the past decade I have been traveling back-and-forth across the ocean, and now even cross the continent as well. To me, the direction of twilight - the dusk, in a darker state - is where I am from and where I have been. I would say it's my musical meditation of seeking myself and my internal voices.

ACO: Your relationship with ACO began with your participation in the 2012 EarShot San Diego Symphony New Music Readings. Can you talk about anything that you learned or gained from that experience that you used when writing this new piece, or that you plan to use during the rehearsals with the Philadelphia Orchestra?

CHJ: In 2012 I participated the EarShot San Diego where another larger work of mine, yet the dew remains in pale, was read by the San Diego Symphony. We received workshops on publishable-quality notation and score preparation, feedbacks from the orchestra members and from the mentor composers. Very luckily, the ACO collaborates with the League of American Orchestras that launched a new program for women composers commissions and readings a few years ago. Four of this Philadelphia Orchestra reading recipients, including myself, are the winner of the LAO's women composers commissions. My work with Earshot brought be the opportunity to write this new work, and, thankfully, ACO is now bringing me and this new work to Philadelphia.

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Composer Robin Holcomb

ROBIN HOLCOMB - All the While, Suite for Orchestra

American Composers Orchestra: Can you tell us a little bit about the piece you are bringing to the Philadelphia Orchestra for these readings?

Robin Holcomb: All the While is a reflection on that which underscores waking life and runs, just below the surface of consciousness, all the while. It is my first composition for full orchestra, written in 2016.

ACO: Your relationship with ACO began with your participation in the 2015 Jazz Orchestra Institute Readings. Can you talk about anything that you learned or gained from that experience that you used when writing this new piece, or that you plan to use during the rehearsals with the Philadelphia Orchestra?

RH: I had been composing for big band, chamber groups and solo piano, writing songs and scoring films and dance and theatrical productions. I was improvising pianist as well and generally performed my own music. I had always wanted to write for orchestra, saw the JCOI opportunity, composed and submitted one minute of music for full orchestra and was accepted into the program. All the While was read as part of the EarShot Naples Philharmonic Jazz Composers Readings conducted by Yaniv Segal in May, 2016.

Of particular interest to me was being in a community of composers interested in bringing the spirit of improvisation to orchestral writing. How to translate writing for and improvising with individuals and personalties to writing for a large group of players. The importance of notating everything – detailed instructions about timbre, articulation and intention that in previous ensemble writing I had often communicated orally. The unintended consequences of omission! A lot about balance and creating contrast and clarity. The speed of the orchestra feels different, how to write for this. Experimenting with all of these elements was both exhilarating and excruciating. I am very grateful for the opportunity to have my work supported by the ACO.

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Philadelphia Orchestra and American Composers Orchestra's Showcase for Works by Women Composers is on Thursday, September 6, 2018 from 10:30am to 4pm at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The event is free and open to the public, no RSVP is necessary. Seatings will happen approximately every 30-40 minutes between pieces. View the full schedule here.

About SoundAdvice

American Composers Orchestra’s SoundAdvice blog is a place where composers and artists share the story behind their works. Here you'll find insights on what it takes to create new piece of orchestra music: the anticipation, the challenges, the risks, and the rewards.